Tuesday, December 10, 2013

A lesson in life and ministry

I spent the day cleaning, doing laundry and ironing.  Miata came by to wash my floors and washed the bed sheets.  I could have washed the sheets in the washing machine, but she insisted that she could do them, so I handed them over.  Miata has worked with The Salvation Army for many years.  She worked at the Girls Hostel until it closed and has been helping with cooking and cleaning at various SA event and facilities.  The first CHQ prayer meeting I attended, Colonel reprimanded those in attendance for not coming alongside Miata the past couple of weeks when she had to deal with the death of a daughter.  Her daughter was 26.  No one from CHQ came to help or provide any support for the family and no one attended the funeral.  Colonel was in Ghana at the time and told them it must not happen again.  There are two new couples at CHQ – just arrived in September from Ghana and Zambia, so they would not have known the ‘history’ of Miata, but everyone else would have known.   I am reminded of how easy it is to get so wrapped up in planning and preparing (for them the 25^th Anniversary celebration) that we miss what God is calling us to ‘in the moment.’  It’s not that anyone purposefully neglected Miata.  They were just too busy to see the need ‘right under their noses.’   I’m just as guilty of having done the same thing too many times in the past. 

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

 And rather than walk in bitterness or unforgiveness, Miata continues to walk in love.  In the midst of her own grief and heartache, she reaches out to others to serve and be sensitive to the needs of others.  I have much to learn from those around me.

Richard Flomo came by in the evening, so I went outside the compound to greet him.  Richard is my friend who is crippled and needs a new wheel chair.  He is still using the old wheel chair, but someone rigged up a bicycle tire on the front with hand pedals and welded them to his old wheel chair.  It’s a pretty primitive set up, but it gets him around and he definitely has some upper body strength, in spite of his thin, twisted legs.  His daughter, Rachel is a junior in high school and he is so proud of managing to keep her in school.  He often asks for a laptop for her because she is so good with computer skills and is learning how to repair computers.  I tell him to keep praying and believing God.  Maybe one day the laptop and wheel chair will come.  And even if details don't come together as he wants, God will continue to provide in ways far beyond anything we can ask or imagine.

In earlier years in Liberia, Richard used to meet me on the street when I was out walking and we would often ‘walk’ – okay, me walking and Richard wheeling himself long – together until his arms would be too tired to go on and he’d turn back. Every time I come here, we connect.

So much to learn from the people here in Liberia!